Judge Lets OpenAI’s Harassment Claims Against Musk Proceed

A U.S. federal judge rejected Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk’s attempt to throw out OpenAI’s claims that he waged a “years-long harassment campaign” against the company he helped start in 2015 and later left.

In a Tuesday (Aug. 12) ruling, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Northern District of California said OpenAI’s allegations were strong enough to move forward, Reuters reported Wednesday (Aug. 13).

OpenAI is suing Musk for allegedly harassing the company in public remarks, social media posts, legal actions and a “sham bid” to acquire its assets, the report said.

Musk sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman last year, accusing them of abandoning the nonprofit mission to develop artificial intelligence for humanity’s benefit and instead prioritizing profit. OpenAI is transitioning to a for-profit subsidiary under a nonprofit parent.

OpenAI responded in April with a countersuit, alleging Musk engaged in fraudulent business practices under California law.

Musk had sought to have the countersuit dismissed or postponed, but in May, OpenAI argued the case should proceed without delay. The judge agreed, setting a jury trial for March 16, 2026.

Earlier this year, Musk launched a $97.4 billion unsolicited bid to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit arm, which the board rejected.

Musk has now involved Apple in his fight with Altman. This week, he threatened to sue Apple for allegedly gaming its app store system “in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store, which is an unequivocal antitrust violation.”

Musk and Altman, as the head of OpenAI, have been at odds for years. Musk recruited Altman and others to co-found the nonprofit AI research lab in 2015. But Musk failed to take control of OpenAI and left in 2018. Meanwhile, OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022 and catapulted to fame. Musk later founded a rival AI startup, xAI, in 2023.

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